Ah, Kubikuro
Ah, Kubikuro is the fifth episode of the 1968 anime series. It is a loose adaptation of a side story from the original manga, The Phantom Dog. Plot Summary Agents of a warring country called Vetoria kidnap a scientist named Professor Inuzuka, who performed horrific breeding and surgical experiments on dogs back during the Second World War, to make canine weapons for their military. One of his dogs, a puppy named Kubikuro is left behind and taken into Joe's care. The agents kidnap Kubikuro and after several months, the puppy is now an enhanced adult dog who can shoot fire from his eyes and has been programmed to kill. After the death of the dog's parents and its master, Kubikuro goes on a rampage with Joe being forced to stop him. Story The story opens on a propaganda film from the nation of Vetoria of a dog with enhanced abilities destroying enemy forces with his powers. An agent of Vetoria stops the film for a pair of recruits and says they need more films like this to rally the people to support the conflict the nation is currently in. At Ueno Park, 009 and 003 are waiting for 007 near the statue of , wondering if 007 got lost. They then see him as a crow resting on Saigo's head and 007 complains that they are late. 009 apologizes as the traffic was a bit heavier than normal getting to the park. They all head for 003's ballet theater performance, only for 007 to be distracted by a large crowd gathering near a tree for something. He goes to check it out despite 003 and 009 insisting they will be late if they stick around. 007 sees a kind old man doing a performance with his dogs, Mr. and Mrs. Tomo, asking them addition and subtraction math questions and seeing if his pets can figure out the answer by picking up flash cards with numbers on them. Both of them get the answers correct and 007 tries to challenge the old man by asking him if they can do multiplication and division. 007 asks if the dogs know the solution to 28÷4, which the old man says is easy for them. Mr. and Mrs. Tomo's puppy Kubikuro barks as he wants to play too, so the old man lets him answer. Kubikuro correctly answers it is 7, much to 007's surprise. The old man praises Kubikuro and pets him lovingly with pride, saying he will grow up to be a fine dog. Mr. and Mrs. Tomo are also proud, as Kubikuro's father licks his son on the cheek which causes him to sneeze adorably. 007 is dragged away from the street performance by 009 and 003, who protests not seeing more of the incredible dogs. While both 003 and 009 are impressed, they have to get to the show so 003 can get on stage. At the theater, 003 dances in a ballet production of Swan Lake while 007 and 009 watch from the front row. 007 gets a bit overexcited as 003 performs and cheers loudly, only for 009 to cover his mouth, worried they will be thrown out of the theater if 007 makes too much noise. After the production, the two wait for 003 to get dressed back in her regular clothes in the lobby and then 007 apologizes for making a ruckus during 003's performance. 003 however is still upset with him as his shouting broke her concentration and threw the timing of her dance moves off. 009 agrees with 003 as she angrily says that if 007 does not respect her craft then he should just stay over where the dogs are performing. 009, in a bit of a spiteful move, decides that 007 can walk home as he wants to go with 003 to try and cheer her up. While walking with 003, 009 finds out she isn't really mad at 007 anymore but wanted to teach him a lesson in respecting other people's work. 009 is relieved she isn't angry at 007 anymore. 003 then hears the dogs barking and sees the old man being kidnapped with her super vision. The kidnappers are the two recruit agents of the Vetorian government, who are trying to load up the old man and his dogs, but can't take Kubikuro as the boss orders them to just drive away as staying any longer might attract the police. They leave Kubikuro behind as 009 chases after them. 009 tries to uses his super speed, but 003 stops him as she hears someone following them in the bushes. The two find 007 rescuing Kubikuro from the bushes, the scared puppy takes an immediate liking to 009 as he leaps into his arms and starts licking his face. 009 comforts Kubikuro and promises the pup he will find Kubikuro's owner and parents. At Gilmore Laboratories, the three explain to Dr. Gilmore what has been going on and about the super intelligent dogs that were kidnapped. Gilmore says the dogs they described sound like the research of Professor Inuzuka, a scientist specialized in the field of canine breeding with a specific specialty in enhancing the intelligence of dogs through hereditary genetics. Kubikuro is Inuzuka's latest result of dog breed experimentation, hence why the puppy is so intelligent and can solve complex math problems. Dr. Gilmore believes that Inuzuka was kidnapped to use his research for some kind of evil purpose. Kubikuro cries after hearing this, but 009 comforts him again. 007 tries to cheer Kubikuro up by making funny faces, but the puppy turns his noes up and ignores the young cyborg. 009 decides to let Kubikuro stay with him in his apartment. With no leads or clues on who or where the kidnappers are, 009 sees no choice but to use Kubikuro as bait to try to lure them out so the 00 Cyborgs can capture them. 009 returns home to his apartment carrying some items he bought from a pet store in one arm and Kubikuro in the other. Kubikuro eats some food from a new dog dish and then 009 shows his new pet a surprise; a doghouse he built just for Kubikuro. Kubikuro is happy with his new dog house and barks at 009 with joy. 009 tells his new dog that he can relate to him as he doesn't have his parents either, he hopes the two of them can be good friends. He wishes Kubikuro good night and goes to bed. When 009 wakes up the next morning, he finds out that Kubikuro has somehow run off and left the apartment. 009 leaps out the window and begins searching for Kubikuro. At a run down cabin near the sea, Professor Inuzuka is being held hostage along with Mr. and Mrs. Tomo. The head of the Vetorian spies greets the professor, asking if he would like to perform a special surgery on dogs. The professor refuses, as he had been tricked into helping "bad people" during World War II, which led to the deaths of many innocent dogs and people. So Inuzuka refuses to do whatever the agents are planning for him to do. He also states that Mr. and Mrs. Tomo are too old to be of any use for any surgical experiments and he'd rather die that harm them. The boss realizes this means they need a young dog to perform the experiments. Professor Inuzaka says even if he did cooperate, Mrs. Tomo would require two more years to be able to conceive another litter of puppies due to her age. The boss is displeased with this news as the war in Vetoria would be over by then. The boss's lackey agents inform him that they had a puppy but lost it. He berates their stupidity and orders them to go back and find the puppy. On a seaside winding road, Kubikuro is wandering around and sniffing for the scent of his parents, trying to find them. The agents are in a car and complaining about their assignment given how large a city Tokyo is for a puppy to be wandering around in. By sheer dumb luck, they find Kubikuro as they pass right by him and stop. They then drive up and abduct Kubikuro before the pup was able run away. A week passes and 009 and company have not seen Kubikuro, 009 is worried about his pet and fears the worst has happened. 009's instincts are correct, as Kubikuro is in the house where Professor Inuzuka is being held, lying on an operating table with a veterinary breathing mask and connected to a breathing machine. The professor remorsefully picks up a scalpel and begins to operate on Kubikuro at gunpoint by the Vetorian agents. The professor tires our after a few hours and needs to rest, telling the agents he needs more time to do the surgery procedures properly. A month passes and an older Kubikuro is ready for another surgery, but the agents want to test the dog's abilities as a weapon in the field. They put him on a leash and muzzle him, which Kubikuro doesn't like. On command, Kubikuro shoots flame blasts from his eyes and burns down a forest. This event is reported on the news as an arson case, which gets the attention of 009 and he drives off to the scene with 007 and 003. Kubikuro is operated on again, but Professor Inuzuka is taking longer to finish than usual. 009 races to the beach and 003 sees the professor inside the cabin with her super vision. As they race towards the cabin, Professor Inuzuka silently apologizes to Kubikuro as the surgery includes an implant that will make the once lovable dog an evil killing machine. Professor Inuzuka also realizes once this is done he will be executed to prevent anyone from discovering what the Vetorians are doing. He hopes that he will get his revenge by making Kubikuro turn on his new masters. 009, 003 and 007 arrive near the cabin and prepare to storm it, only for 007 to trip a hidden alarm alerting the Vetorians of their arrival. The agents quickly pack up their things and take Kubikuro, then tie up the professor next to Mr. and Mrs. Tomo and activate the labs self-destruct system. They then open the back door electronically and rig the sensors near the door to trigger the self destruct. 009 and the others enter and almost go through the door, but 003 hears the electronics near the door and tells 009 not to open it. She then hears the timer for the self-destruct bombs and 009 quickly picks up the two and leaps outside, running as fast as he can away from the explosion. The cabin explodes and the 00 Cyborgs are caught in the blast. When 009, 007 and 003 wake up and pull themselves from the wreckage, they find the horribly disfigured remains of Professor Inuzuka and Kubikuro's parents. 003 recoils in shock and 009 laments his failure to rescue them, while 007 notices that Kubikuro is not among the dead victims. 003 spots a motorboat escaping with the Vetorian agents riding inside and 009 chases after them in his car, turning it into a rocket powered boat. The agents notice the 00 Cyborgs tailing them and try shooting at them, but the boatcar is too quick and dodges their fire. 009 rams the boat after getting ahead of them and sends the agents flying. 009 rescues Kubikuro who is sitting on top of a piece of the boat, 009 then apologizes to his pet that he couldn't rescue Professor Inuzuka or Kubikuro's parents. Kubikuro cries and the Vetorian agents plead for help as they try not to drown in the ocean water. 009 arrests them on murder charges and takes them to the police, but Kubikuro has vengeance in his eyes and snarls at them. The next day, 009, 003 and Dr. Gilmore find that Kubikuro has run away again and are worried about him. Kubikuro is seen near the police station and 007 sees him as he is walking down the street. Kubikuro sees the trio of criminals being loaded into a transport van and chases after it, barking and growling at it. He then uses his powers to engulf the van in flames and everyone in it is badly burned. 007 tells 009 that Kubikuro did it when 009 reads about the incident in the morning paper. 003 finds 007's story odd as dogs cannot set things on fire. 007 tries to explain that he's telling the truth, but 009 and 003 don't believe him and think Kubikuro is a good dog. 009 then gets a call from a dog catcher who tells him that Kubikuro is at the pound for attacking a guard. 009 goes to pick his dog up, finally believing 007's story. When they arrive at the pound, it is on fire with crews of firemen trying to put the blaze out and rescue the animals inside. 009 and 003 call for Kubikuro, but he does not come out. The next day, Kubikuro goes on a rampage, using his pyrokinesis to derail a train, which crashes into a tanker truck that then careens out of control into an oil refinery. This causes a massive explosion and many people are killed from the chain of accidents. The news reports on the events, with the reporter thinking these random acts of spontaneous combustion are somehow connected. Dr. Gilmore realizes that Kubikuro has been surgically altered to get revenge for Professor Inuzuka's death with some kind of weird programming. Dr. Gilmore regretfully tells 009 that he must put Kubikuro down before more lives are lost. 009 sadly agrees. The news reports that the three criminals have recovered from the burn treatment center in the hospital and are going to be released to be transported to prison. As a precaution, the drivers wear fire resistant suits while transporting the criminals. The drivers then see Kubikuro, who leaps onto the hood of the van and growls at the men, then uses his flame powers to scare them off. Kubikuro then tries to burn the occupant in the back of the van, but he is wearing a fireproof suit too. The dog growls at him and tries again with a stronger blast of flame, which melts off the suit to reveal it is 009. 009 tries to reason with his dog, pleading Kubikuro to stop being a bad dog and come home. But Kubikuro is now acting like a vicious killing machine and cannot be reasoned with, attempting to attack 009. 009 sadly pulls out his Super Gun and fires a single bullet as the dog lunges at him, causing Kubikuro to recoil backwards and yelp in pain. In his last moments, Kubikuro realizes it was his master he tried to attack and starts to cry as 009 holds him in his arms and cries, begging the dog for his forgiveness as it dies. 009 carries it and curses God for being so cruel in letting those he loves get hurt or killed, but hopes that in begging for forgiveness, Kubikuro can find peace and happiness in Heaven as an image of a happy Kubikuro floats into the sky above a church. Notes *There is one scene where Cyborg 007 is walking down the street and whistling the opening theme of the show. *This manga chapter would be adapted again for the 2001 series, but with the overall story closer to the source material. Deviations from the manga *The old man was kidnapped along with Kubikuro's parents and later killed by a bomb. In the original story, they were run over by a car and killed at the beginning of the story after their demonstration. *The old man is given a name in this version, Professor Inuzuka. He was the world's leading expert in dog breeding and had a dark past experimenting on them to turn them into weapons during WWII, an action he stated he regrets and hates himself for. In the manga, he was a nameless character with no background. *Kubikuro was held in captivity by the villains and modified constantly by the professor to posses his powers. In the manga, Kubikuro was in Joe's care the whole time and the dog had powers from the beginning. *Kubikuro's ability to start fires in the episode is shown to be energy blasts from his eyes. In the manga, it was because the brain enhancements gave the dog pyrokinetic abilities. *Kubikuro is killed near a church, whereas the manga and the 2001 version have him surrounded by police when Joe kills him. There is also Christian symbolisim at the end of the episode, which was never part of the story. Category:Cyborg 009 (1968) Category:Cyborg 009 (1968) Episodes